On grey days when the rain is incessant...

...I am often compelled to listen to Geodaggi by Boards of Canada. 66m6s of nostalgically emotive, often deeply edgy music that expands on their earlier sound of lush pastoralism and adds a sense of the sinister. If Music Has The Right To Children conjures up images caught on Super 8 of carefree childhood frolics in a dappled garden, Geodaggi fast-forwards a few years to when the safety net of childhood is slipping off and the wider world is creeping in. The unsettling nature of this record undulates at the edges of the tunes and draws you in exponentially, hypnotically, if you care to follow it. Vocal snippets, fuzzy instrumentation, conversations overheard and bubbling soundscapes ebb and flow, barely distinguishable, and if you cock your ear and really listen, far from identifying the sounds, you find yourself drawn into more waves of incoherence and ambiguity, so you really, really listen, and suddenly you're zoning out... then the track ends and you wonder where you are...

If thats all a bit much, you can still appreciate Geodaggi for the intricacies of the production and the sweeping, almost-there melodies. But I recommend diving in and letting your mind wander with the odd distortions and textures for a warm and fuzzy but very wonky experience!

Theres something of a cult surrounding this album - some people believe it is littered with satanic messages and other such weirdness. Indeed, some of the vocal samples talk about the apocalyptic religious sect 'branch Davidians', the track titles hint at hidden secrets and sacred geometry (The Devil is in the Details, Music is Math) and the album length mentioned above is no accident... One track is supposed to say "I hate you all" If you reverse it. I tried this by downloading the track in question and reversing it on the computer. When I pressed play, it got to just before the supposed vocal and crashed my computer! Eerie! On a second attempt, however, it played through, and the track clearly doesn't say 'we hate you all' in reverse. Ah well!

Sample tracks here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geogaddi (but for the full experience, get hold of the entire album!)